1984-85 BIANCHI Specialissima

58 cm. c-c


This Bianchi Specialissima is a great vintage "rider."  It has a full complement of very cool and period-correct parts that look great, but the parts have been ridden before, so they can (and should!) be ridden again without the worries associated with perfect or NOS parts.  Same for the SLX frameset (Bianchi's top-of-the-line in it's day).  It looks great, but in fact the original paint has been touched-up in several places.  Up close you can tell that the paint has many imperfections, but from just a couple of feet, it looks like a showbike.  So you have the best of both worlds...a bike that looks like a showbike, but is really a rider.  You can take it out, put in the trunk, lean it against a tree, whatever, and not worry about having a heart attack the first time you scratch it.  Just touch it up and keep going - it will only add to the character of the bike.


 

The seat tube measures 58 cm. center-to-center.

The top tube measures 57 cm. center-to-center.

The stand-over height is 83.5 cm.

  While the frameset has a lot of touch-ups, the decals are look perfect, and there are no dings, dents or rust.

Gorgeous Bianchi-issue blue Turbo saddle.  The blue cable housing looks nice too. (Thanks Lou!)

A perfect match for this bike, the saddle is in great condition.

How cool is this custom-fluted Super Record seat post?  (Thanks Gary!)

 

 

Classic padded vinyl, Bike-Ribbon bar tape by Ambrosio.

Polished 3ttt stem, 90 mm. long.

This Cinelli bar is one of the first that came out in the new 26.0 diameter, which is compatible with 3ttt stems.

The gum hoods are excellent replicas.

Cool and correct bar plugs that show a little patina - perfect for this bike.

 

Fairly rare pantographed Nuovo Record levers that show signs of use, but abuse.

 

 

Decals are in perfect condition.  You can see a paint touch-up at the bottom of the head tube.

These calipers are the cat's meow.  The arms have been re-shaped, pantographed and polished.  They are often referred to as Mexico calipers, in reference to the Mexico cranks that Ernesto Colnago pioneered in the 70s.

Vittoria Corsa CX - my favorite tire from the 80s.  I hate letting these tires go, but they are perfect for this bike.

This unique fork crown was introduced by Bianchi sometime around 1984, possibly as early as 1983.  It is the same crown used on the 1985 Centenario model.  The chrome on the crown has held up very well except for that spot where the finish has come off.  I recommend touching it up with chrome paint, which works very well for small spots like this one, and will prevent rust.

Here you can see that the calipers are fully polished (factory polished, by the way).

 

Very cool, very hard to find, pantographed shifters.

Nice decals; perfect and correct alloy Cobra bottle cage.

Beautiful crankset!  Bianchi pantographed 53/42 Super Record rings, with Mexico-style arms, which have been re-shaped and polished.

These rare crank bolts look, but are not, like the self-extracting bolts introduced with the C-Record cranks.

These are simply crank bolts with integrated washers and seals.  They work with an 8mm allen key wrench.  Notice also the clean flat on the bottom bracket fixed cup.

 The polished arms happen to be in superb condition. 

The teeth show very little wear and still have many miles on them.

Seat tube decals are also in perfect shape.

The tubing is standard SLX, but Bianchi had it's own unique tubing decal.

Note the old-school tire set up, with a Vittoria CG in back, and a CX in front.  Both tires show tread wear and the sidewalls are dried-out, but not rotted.  They both hold air (for about 24-48 hours), and are rideable (I have pumped them to 100 psi).  You may, however, want to save these babies for show and ride with something less difficult to replace.

In these two photos (the above and the one below) you can really appreciate the shape of the Mexico caliper arms.  The arms are normally round, but here you can clearly see a sharp edge along the face of the arms, resulting in a triangular cross-section.

 

Caliper hardware is excellent except for some slight corrosion on the brake shoe fixing nuts (which unfortunately is all too typical).

The chain is a Sedis, and the freewheels is a DurAce 7 speed 12-19.  Since this bike is meant to be a rider, I set it up with this freewheel, which is smoother, quieter, and shifts immensely better than any Regina.  If you prefer, I will be glad to swap it for a 6 speed Regina, but if you plan to ride this bike, I highly recommend the DurAce freewheel (if this one is too small, I can swap it for a 12-23).

The wheels are 32 front and 32 rear, laced three-cross to Mavic rims.  Again going old-school, the rear rim is a sturdy GP-4, and the front is a lighter GL 330.

The chainstay chrome is in great condition, with only two small scuffs, which are visible in the photo above.

Note also the correct spiral wound steel derailleur cable housing - details, details...

Pat. 82 Super Record rear derailleur.  Note also the twist-tooth design, and beautiful condition, of the DurAce freewheel.

Spokes are Alpina double-butted, oval-profile, 14-15-14.  Notice also the nice chrome details on and around the dropouts.

 

The bottom bracket is in great condition.  Notice that the lockring shows no signs of improper of abusive wrenching.

Interesting bottom bracket shell with minimalist cutout slot and well-executed cable guides.  Also another good view of the nice condition of the lockring.

1983 date code on the crank arms.

The front rim.

The rear rim.

And now a couple of parting shots.

 

Final photo, suitable for framing - if you're into this sort of thing ;)  Feel free to use any of my photos as desktop background on you computer.

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There it is, my vintage "rider" Bianchi Specialissima.  As far as riders go, I think it really is specialissima indeed - one of the prettiest Bianchi's you will see, but yet suitable for leaning against walls, poles or other bikes as necessary!  If you decide to go for it, good luck.  And if you don't, I hope you still enjoyed the bike and the photos.  Thanks for looking and please let me know if you have any questions or comments.


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